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by Molly McCall
Wed, May 02, 2007, 3:00 am PDT

Glossed Over patrols the border between high style and high sleaze that snakes through the nation's fashion magazines. From Cosmopolitan to W, no monthly mag slips through unexamined, and few gushy profiles emerge unscathed. Mandates issue forth ("Memo to Allure: Celebrities not always trendsetters"), truisms sprout ("News flash: not all men are worth knowing"), and an unsparing tally lists stats (number of plus signs on Elle's May cover: three). The categories alone are worth the visit. We loved the murders' row of absurdity, accessories, and André Leon Talley, Vogue's editor-at-large. Speaking of Vogue, all devilish editrixes get their comeuppance, of course. But in the end, this is tough love at work. Glossed Over bemoans the dearth of supermodels on covers these days and still lists all the lambasted periodicals as "required reading."
by Molly McCall
Tue, April 10, 2007, 3:00 am PDT

We remember the relief we felt when The New Yorker first came online. This past month, the magazine launched a major redesign and thrilled us all over again. Among the fresh offerings now sparkling at newyorker.com, the animated versions of their classic cartoons are surely the most unexpected. We'd love to know what went down in the periodical's conference room when they hashed out this concept. In some ways, it's as nonsensical as animating the Mona Lisa. Why change what's already perfect? On the other hand, we recently found ourselves forwarding more than a few of the 10-second videos. Many of our long-time favorites are here: the dogs surfing the Internet, the mouse unthinkingly playing with the cat, the snail besotted with the tape dispenser. It's curious, and a little odd, to watch them move and hear them speak. For no other reason than that, they're worth checking out. Who knows, maybe we'll end up considering them genius.
by Gordon Hurd
Thu, March 01, 2007, 3:00 am PST

For tried-and-true media fiends, there is no life without a steady supply of magazines. But over the last decade or so, more than a few favorite publications have shrunk editorial content, grown dependent on press releases, and littered perfume samples everywhere. For those reasons, we're thankful for GOOD magazine's declaration that not all great glossies are gone or forgotten. GOOD's list of the 51 Best Magazines Ever led us back to some classic runs of publications like Esquire (#1), The New Yorker (#2), Rolling Stone (#11), and Wired (#8). The list also reminded us of the eye-splitting magic of Ray Gun (#40) and the prescience of Brill's Content (#41), among other magazines that have gone on to the great archives in the sky. The fact that Vanity Fair editor Graydon Carter, who put the list together, recognized the half-century of genius that is MAD magazine (#6) should be reason enough to keep this list as handy as any old rag you subscribe to now.

Filed under: Magazines, Media

by Molly McCall
Fri, September 15, 2006, 3:00 am PDT

It started with Political NASCAR. The image of Hillary Clinton and Rick Santorum zipped into suits emblazoned with their sponsors' logos rated an immediate spate of emails to friends. The speedway satire also introduced us to the new magazine Good. Officially launched this month, Good aspires to no less than creating "content that matters" for people "who give a damn." And frankly Scarlett, we do. We like the way politics mingles breezily with culture and humor, profiles of punk capitalists jostle with pieces on up-and-coming organic farmers, and 10 reasons one Russian loves America mix with an essay on why you never learned to read. The cleverly titled sections may get too involved in being bright and witty ("Look," "Transparency," "Fieldwork"), but we still settle in to them on our late-afternoon latte breaks. Some of the sections remain print only, but the site (so far) is a treasure trove of stuff that's smart, sassy, and, yeah, good.

Filed under: Politics, News, Magazines

by Molly McCall
Fri, December 23, 2005, 3:00 am PST

Few legal endeavors have the potential to be as mean, dirty, and knock-down, drag-out nasty as sports. But there's nothing in the world like them, right? For years, the crack team of photographers at Sports Illustrated has crouched courtside, hovered in the bleachers, and wallowed in the mud to bring us image after image of professional athletes knocking themselves -- and each other -- out in the pursuit of victory. Gathered in picture galleries that cover events from the Breeders' Cup to the World Cup, these photos capture the joy, the excitement, and the violence of sports. We particularly enjoyed the "opinionated" slideshows: "Most Memorable ABA Stars," "Top 10 NFL Rivalries," and "Top 10 Disappointing Players." Oh, and yeah, the cheerleaders are here, too. Cheering over, and over, and over again.


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